Quote:
Originally Posted by Sal-XK
If I ever get that rear end geometry worked out, I'd love to bring it to Uhwarrie someday - watch the Jeeper's eyes bug out, when that thing crests the hill! :p
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sal-XK
If I ever get that rear end geometry worked out, I'd love to bring it to Uhwarrie someday - watch the Jeeper's eyes bug out, when that thing crests the hill! :p
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...4/10/mnl-1.gif Peanut butter shimmin' time!!!
With MUCH thanks to Pozman (buddy of mine from Steeltown Offroaders), the Ramcharger is FINALLY daily driveable (should it ever come to that), as we got the leaf pack shimmed last night!
Thanks to school traffic, I got to his place about 3:30 yesterday afternoon. We decided to work on it there, since he has all the cool tools.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...e72b6647-1.jpg
Safety first, of course. After chocking, and before the jackstands, we had to 'anchor' it. :p
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...23777636-1.jpg
Strapped it to his hitch and my pintle.
Time to UN-bolt everything!
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...c071a93d-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...7cb94219-1.jpg
Peekaboo!
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...974170fd-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...fd0e6031-1.jpg
After extensive eyeballing, and some actual measuring of the driveshaft and pinion angles, I THOUGHT about erring on the side of caution, and going with 6 degrees shims... but a nagging instinct, led me to get 8 degree instead... We'll see how this plays out...
Of course the hole's not big enough, so it's off to the drill press. NEXT thought is, weld a little bar stock into the BOTTOM side, so it'll drop into the spring back, and the pin in the axle tube will drop in the top half, thereby solidly anchoring it into the pack. And yes, they are STEEL shims. :cool:
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...82a42c38-1.jpg
Did I mention Ted has COOL tools? :cool:
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...8e0f9374-1.jpg
A little drilling, welding, and grinding later, we have a GOOD shim!
Of course, night arrives at 7pm now - earlier, when it's cloudy... and now it's time for re-assembly.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...fb37d6d7-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...54d1139b-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...d56c5559-1.jpg
If you remember these sorts of scenes from your Saturday morning cartoon youth...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=B12eVCBbGsw
Then this is the Poz, cursing the birth of the Dodge Brothers... https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...hamed005-1.gif
By 8:30 though, we had 'er buttoned up. Sure enough, the 8 degree shims proved to be the right call!
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...942f7661-1.jpg
Other than running over a chock on the way up the driveway, which scared the CRAP out of me, the drive home was FLAWLESS!!! No more grinding of U-joints into a fine powder - and the new double-cardon driveshaft can finally perform as it ought!!!
Doesn't solve ALL the problems yet, but it solved the BIGGEST one to even making it DRIVEABLE in RWD!!! Thanks Pozman!!! https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...7/worthy-1.gif
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Woot-woot! https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../11/woot-1.gif
My RC is BACK from it's LATEST stop @ the shop this week - front axle grease seals are replaced, shock setup is slightly re-worked (and straightened out), and my CAD has been replaced with a new mechanical locking/engagement gizmo, which I'm REALLY looking forward to trying out on the trails
But mainly - after inheriting it 8 years ago THIS month - it will... FINALLY... be off-road READY!!! https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...1/banana-1.gifhttps://theultimatejeep.com/images/i..._ylsuper-1.gifhttps://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../11/rock-1.gifhttps://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...11/woot2-1.gifhttps://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...11/drive-1.gif
I'm ACTUALLY looking forward to freezing my @$$ off on SOME sorta trail run either this month or next - just to splash a little mud on it - before the end of the year. And I will be looking forward to this coming spring, like no other in almost a DECADE!!! :D
MORE pics to come... :cool:
Closeup of the Posi-Lok gizmo that Dave installed on my D-44 - no more vacuum CAD to fail or gum up with axle grease!!!
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...49eba2f0-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...2da53f9e-1.jpg
Had some time this morning, so I went out, fired it up, and let it run for about 20 minutes, given all the cold weather we've had of late. That's when I finally noticed he'd added the sticker to my collection! :p
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...e672a78a-1.jpg
And as we ALL know, a sticker's always worth another 5 hp! ;)
No pics on this one, but a decent story.
A MOPAR guy, and Gen.1 builder no less, chimed in on POR a few weeks ago. After looking over my build, & a some of the pics more closely, he said - 'I think I found your death wobble issue - your front spring packs are in backward!' https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...slaphead-1.gif
Sure enough, Dave agreed. We'd been working on so many OTHER things, we never noticed (Dave did NOT put those in - my first mechanic and I did that some 8 years ago - because it only traveled 1 mile for the first 7 of those years, we never really noticed, until we started DRIVING it!)!
So Dave agreed to straighten them out (swap them) for me; we also installed new poly bushings throughout the front end (it NEEDED them!!), and install my Hughes plenum fix (a needed fix for early Dodge Magnum engines. The original was this steel/aluminum combo, that heated un-evenly and eventually warped. This would suck in the gasket, & then you'd start sucking in air, which made for a leaner burn, and - eventually - burned pistons!). And driving it home yesterday, I'd swear it feels just a BIT peppier even!
And of course, it FINALLY steers better! Thing with a death wobble at 35mph is, it's gonna be just as imprecise at 3.5mph, crawling along a tricky switchback. And when your spotter says, 'turn right,' and you TURN the steering wheels, but the FRONT wheels DON'T turn, THAT'S when you're into a boulder... or a tree stump... or a creek... or off a ledge... https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...cared009-1.gif
Problem has been, that in addition to being imprecise, it was also occasionally 'grabby/darty' in turns. You'd be in the middle of a turn, and all of a sudden it would wanna dart sharper through the turn. Not a problem at a couple of miles an hour from a stoplight, but a BIG potential problem at highway speeds, en route to dirt! So the precision is BACK in the steering, and feels pretty good now.
Now to find some mud.... https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../11/chin-1.gif
Glad to hear it was an easy fix!
Sent from wherever my Jeep takes me.